The Lowdown: One of Saginaw Arthur Hill’s two wins this season was against Bay City Central. Arthur Hill won the game back in December 57-48, outscoring the Wolves 37-22 in the first half. Over the last two weeks, Central beat Midland 54-51 win and held Midland Bullock Creek, one of the top Class B teams, to its lowest point total all season in a 40-27 loss. “Knowing we can hold a team that’s averaging 60 points a night to 40 is a big deal for us,” Central coach Todd Thunberg said. “This year I think out defense has let us down more than our offense, so it was a night for us to build on.” Central has a balanced scoring attack led by Leah Humes, who is averaging 12 points a night. Addyson Tomczak and Jasmine Gray are both hovering around double-digits as well. “At any time we have four or five girls who can score double-digits,” Thunberg said. “I think it makes us harder to defend. In high school basketball when you can’t key on one player it opens things up more.”

Key Matchup: Western was outrebounded 58-25 back in December and Arthur Hill had 30 offensive rebounds. Even though the Lumberjacks have a significant height advantage, Thunberg wants that number to be considerably lower in the rematch. “They are a lot taller than us,” Thunberg said. “They have girl Angie Parker, who is 6-foot-3 and they have two other girls over 5-foot-10. We don’t start anybody over 5-foot-8. We have to have all five girls going after the ball after a shot.” Thunberg also wants his defense to pressure the ball on the outside to prevent it from getting into the post.

Prediction: Saginaw Arthur Hill 52, Bay City Central 54

BOYS BASKETBALL

Midland Dow (4-7) at Bay City Western (0-9)

Tipoff: 7:00 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25

The Lowdown: Midland Dow and Bay City Western will face each other for the second time on Friday. The teams played back on Dec. 14 with Dow winning 53-42. “It’s been awhile since we played them,” Western coach Dan Snover said. “I think we are in a much better place right now.” While the Warriors are still searching for their first win, Snover said his team is playing better basketball right now. Western almost won its first game last week before falling to Saginaw Heritage 47-45 in the final seconds. “We just need to relax right now,” Snover said. “I think the kids are putting a lot of pressure on themselves. It’s been a point of emphasis for us in practice. We hustle, we play hard, but we aren’t going to make every shot. The kids just need to go out there and play.”

Key Matchup: The game should feature a battle in the backcourt. Western’s leading scorer is point guard Connor Foley while Dow’s top player is junior guard Malik Garner. The pair each had 15 points in the first game between the teams. “He’s our general on the floor,” Snover said. “The offense runs through him.” Foley is averaging 15 points per game on the season. As a team, Western needs to execute better ball control. Dow had 15 steals as a team back in December against Western. Snover said turnovers have plagued his team all season. “We need to handle their pressure defense better,” Snover said. “If we can take better control of the ball I think we’ll have a good chance.”